‘We need to know who’s hungry’: NH advocates react to the end of the USDA food insecurity survey
New Hampshire Public Radio | By Kate Dario Published September 29, 2025 at 5:14 PM EDT
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it was cutting its annual survey tracking hunger across the US.
“These redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies do nothing more than fear monger,” the department said in a press release.
But local advocates say this data provides crucial information on how to best fight food insecurity and has long enjoyed bipartisan support.
“The statement from the USDA was really, really concerning because it made it seem like this was some kind of a partisan report, which is just not true,” said Laura Milliken, the director of N.H. Hunger Solutions. “It is the gold standard of health reporting. It is well respected on both sides of the aisle.”
Milliken says the data gathered is used to better understand if certain strategies to expand food access are working.
“If we're trying to solve hunger in our state or in our country, we need to know who's hungry,” Milliken said.
